EVENT #1

A few weeks ago I attended the event “Waste Matters: You Are My Future” by Kathy High. Kathy High, who was present at the event, suffers from Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes swelling inside the lining of the digestive tract and can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, and fatigue. Kathy is an artist, but also studies medicine, science and technology. In particular Kathy has explored the possibilities of fecal transplantation to help individuals struggling with autoimmune disorders.

            I would definitely recommend this event to other students because it’s fascinating to see how art can be a positive way to educate the public about scientific possibilities. In addition, this event provided a lot of firsts for me. As a Sociology major, I had never been to south campus, I had never been to an art exhibition, and I really didn’t know much about Crohn’s disease, so this event was very eye opening.

            I went to the event with a friend, and when we first got there we didn’t understand what was going on. After reading up on the various signs on display it was interesting to see the creative ways that Kathy used her own art to try and further fecal transplantation research and to inform the public of this new field of medicine.

            My experiences at this event reminded me most of the lecture material from week 4 on MedTech + Art. Kathy is not only a talented artist but also a first hand patient of Crohn’s disease with lots of knowledge in autoimmune disorder research. As someone who doesn’t know much about the medical field, or art, I appreciate the creative, approachable, clear approach she took to expand the public’s knowledge about this recent field of study.